Live in the moment
by fangirlbaka
Summary: A short walk in the woods and a moment away from the chaos.


Eren loved these sorts of days.

When autumn swept forest was dancing with blinding golden light around him, and there was the crunch of multi-coloured leaves pressed against his boots and the muddy dirt in seas of orange and yellow lay around and on the rarely trodden path he and Mikasa were weaving through the sunlit trees. It was one of those days that happen rarely but very occasionally these days, in times of war and blood and hatred, but he was lucky enough to experience it, and he thought that to himself as he gazed up at the auburn sky streaked with orange and pink from the dying fall sun, sinking just below the horizon as the pair made it to a ledge in the clearing. God… these days were worth the wait.

He let out a soft breath as he gazed upon the horizon stretching out in front of him, a patchwork of fields and towns and the clouds hung just above the falling sun, illuminated by its beautiful light, iridescent in the white-grey fog that hung in the frigid air. His breath was misty and froze over immediately in the air, winter was approaching fast. His face stung, but it was good pain. The kind that makes you yearn for warm evenings by the fire curled up in a blanket with a cup of hot cocoa and people you love. He smiled wistfully, stretching his neck and pushing out his fingers to make that irritating yet satisfying cracking sound in his knuckles. A small sigh of half-hearted annoyance reached his ears and out of the corner of his eye he saw a small wistful smile appear on a delicate porcelain face, dappled with pearly pink blush from the cold and framed with red fabric which she pulled up modestly to hide her expression.

He smirked as he turned back to the scenery and cracked his knuckles again deliberately to annoy her this time, only teasing really but he found her irritation childishly hilarious, a lazy smile twitching up the corner of his mouth until an unexpected flick to the forehead made him wince and bring up his arms to protect his face.

"Youch! Mikasa…" he glared at her in fake pain but really he was trying not to laugh, crinkles next to his eyes with mischievous glints in his turquoise irises which her own trained over as she saw right through the look of pain stretching across his mouth. Her eyes were gleaming with a grin of humour at his silly trick that amused her but she didn't want to admit it, thus hiding herself in the scarf that still smelt reminiscent of him, though it was years since he wrapped it around her.

Muttering, she adjusted the scarf which seemed to keep falling down, trying not to grin herself and blushing a little at his amusement. "Idiot!" She murmurs in a low, irritated voice. "…don't say I didn't warn you when you get arthritis…"

He rolled his eyes at her comment, not really caring much in his childish way. "Who cares about stupid arthritis? There's so much more for me to think about!" He slowly sat down on the ledge next to her, still gazing at the view, eyes full of the golden light which set off the green and forest blue hues dappled through them and his look of easy happiness masked the usual angst and rage he portrayed in his loathing of the titans.

"Like what Eren?" She mused, listening intently as her eyes swept over the expanse of fields and trees and animals dotted over the horizon, their forms barely moving as they grazed at the muddy green and the shrubbery that rose in spikes over the rolling hills. Her pupils seemingly twitched back and forth, barely stopping for a moment as she tried to overcome the impossible task of taking it all in and the pink speckled horizon along with it, the golden orb she knew so well sinking just below the land line.

"I don't know… ahh… more important things, like… fighting, and winning the war, you know."

"Not ever anything else?"

"Depends…" He trailed off, and a small smile appeared on his face. "Wait what are you implying?" And the smile turned into a wicked grin.

She shrugs, ignoring his comment and pushing it to the side, replying only with: "It's nice to live in the moment sometimes."

"Live in the moment huh?" He turned his attention fully to Mikasa who looked oddly content as she nodded. The deep black hair she possessed was perfectly placed, though she'd barely touched it, it fell about her face in a perfect ring of glimmering midnight and set off the crimson blood-red of her scarf.

He stared at her.

He didn't understand why he'd never noticed until now, how truly stunning she was. How her smile which was rarely seen and almost always directed at him lit up her entire face, how the curves of her cheekbones defined her perfect face, how the faint powder pink blush from the biting wind made her face glow with beauty without a trace of make-up; she didn't need it anyway, how her voice rang quietly yet sweetly in his ears, confident and strong until she trailed off her words and forgot her thought she was about to voice as she flicked her eyes away from the scenery and caught his gaze.

"I... Eren?"

His face was a picture, lips parted in shock at his realisation and eyes wide open, chocolate brown hair threatening to fall into them, she blinked softly at him, her own eyes widening as she quickly glanced behind herself, thinking he was looking past her and her heart rate quickened at her presumption of imminent danger.

A timid hand gently placed at her jawline made her jump, the last thing she expected, and it guided her face back to let her eyes fall upon his, the freezing touch of his cool fingertips making her shiver slightly, however, it was his intense gaze that made her bite her lip which was soon paired with a shy blush. What was he doing?

"M-Mikasa…" The small whisper of her name made her heart skip a beat, eyelashes tumbling slightly as she half blinked, taking in the unexpected image of Eren's red with embarrassment face, his heavy eyebrows creased in concentration, studying her face and trying to lock every piece of it in his memory forever. Her bottom lip trembled slightly due the cold wind which set the hairs on the back of her neck but it was mostly how she was utterly helpless to Eren's unexplained gesture, his thumb wandering aimlessly across her jaw as the breath caught in her throat and his thumb met her lips, reaching the middle and pulling away slightly as she just stared without a movement, murmuring almost inaudibly.

"Eren... y-you…." Her voice was lost as her lips were trapped in an indescribably soft sensation surrounding them like a cage, his eyes tightly closed and his rough, calloused hands clumsily cupping her face as he passionately locked her in his embrace. She could feel the butterflies in her lungs doing backflips in her ribcage as she let out an unintentional sigh into his mouth, his lips jamming into hers and she had no other option but to desperately kiss him back, arms finding their way around his torso and keeping him beside her until he pulled her to sit up on his lap. He hung onto her like his life depended on it, hands tightly fisting her shirt in a ball as his lips collided into hers over and over and over, her fingers managing to tangle themselves in his already messy hair and pulling his entire body closer to hers, wanting the feel of his skin alongside hers, but despite everything, despite the fact that he was all she'd ever wanted, and finally he reciprocated her feelings, she moved back, chest heaving with frantic breaths and eyes glazed over with happiness.

"W-what was that?" A little sound escaped her mouth, eyes scanning over his face once again.

He shrugs and then a little sadly he murmurs back: "I want to live in the moment while I still can."


End file.
